Learning Resources

We are often asked by clients what they can read, or study,
to learn more about good hoofcare.

So here are some of the resources we recommend.

First check out the two best FREE teaching sites on the internet!

These sites do not teach the same way we do at Hoofworks, or even the same as each other, but they do show sensible, practical approaches to trimming, and most importantly... No Nonsense!!!

I love the way Ironfree hoof talks of "Trimming from the Top", not because I do it the same way but rather because I usually approach it from exactly the opposite way... But the end results should be very similar...

These ladies have gone to a lot of work to make these excellent resources available at no cost and totally without any ambition to become superstars.

They really just wanted to help make other people's lives better.

So if you appreciate the material, please write and thank them.

Not all material is free
but we try to recommend, and use, material that is Good Value

Of course we do reccomend that everyone should have a copy of the

Hoofworks:

Barefoot Basics Interactive CD

Click on the image to purchase your copy.

click the image

If you like to have a "Ink on Paper" book, my favourite is:

Pete Ramey's

Making Natural Hoofcare Work for You

click the image

You can buy it from Pete's site www.hoofrehab.com
or click on the image of the book to go straight to the order page.

You will also find a wealth of articles on Petes site and links to Good Places, because Pete is a Good Bloke!

Another "Ink on Paper" book that I really like is Dr. James Rooney's The Lame Horse
which is avalable from Amazon.com and many other horse stores and booksellers.

More Study Material and Authors

A lot of the people, who have inspired and helped me to learn, are not particularly hoof people or "Barefoot" people.

If you wish to do the research there is a lot of valuable material published on the Internet. However there is also a lot of material that is confusing, misquoted or used to build empires and reputations rather than to increase learning and teach wisdom.

I would strongly recommend searching for material by the following authors and researchers, who have lead the world in research and teaching on hoofs and horses.

No they do not all agree with each other, and some may even be very pro horseshoes, drugs and invasive surgery.

But the pure research and good teaching are still valuable tools to us.

If you do "Google" and author or subject, please try to find their original material if possible: Quotes, and mis-quotes do not always express the author's original work!

Dr Tomas Teskey

Tom is a real "hands on" vet who writes from his own practical field and case experience.

I also count him as a good friend though we do not get to see each other as much as I would wish.

Tom is a passionate proponent of natural hoofcare and has worked very hard, and faced a lot of opposition to try to get the established veterinary and farrier worlds to reconsider the wisdom of many of their highly interventionist procedures.

A good place to start reading Tom's material is on his Natural Hoofcare Forumsponsored by the Easycare website.

We strongly reccomend reading this article in prticular:

And you can read more of Dr Pollitt's teaching material here at the UQ website

Dr. Jean Marie Denoix

Professor Denoix's book The Equine Distal Limb is an absolute masterpiece as a reference for detailed dissection and teaching on the anatomy of the horses foot.

His book (with other authors) Physical Therapy & Massage for the Horse is also another of my favourites not just for the therapy but also for the in-depth explanations of the way the whole limbs function.

Both of these books are available from Amazon.com

Of course there is no better learning than practical clinics and personal coaching...

So do study all you can find but when it is possible, do get to a clinic with a good teacher...

And if you would like to do formal study please write to us for a recomendation of what will be the best option for you.

Would you like to study to become a professional hoofcarer?

We believe that professionals shoud study from many other sources rather than just follow our teaching.. I certainly have learned a lot from others including from some teachers who I may broadly not agree with… they still have contributed to my education. Fortunately there are now several good sources of ongoing or professional education if this is what you need.

There are quite a lot of people who offer "certificate" courses or "membership" courses around the world.

Personally I believe that the only genuine “certificate” course in the (English speaking) world is the one offered by the TAFE college in Launceston, Tasmania and taught by a group of my friends there and mentored by some of the best hoof and horse people that I know in Australia.

If you can make it to Tassie for two weeks this is my choice for certification. Of course it is not the beginning and end of all hoof knowledge, as we will be learning, and teaching for many years and still do not know it all, but I think it is the best “certificate’!

If you live in the UK I would suggest that you consider the Association course run by the UKNHCP www.uknhcp.org or the Equine Podiatry Association www.epauk.org which both offer membership courses to qualify to join those associations. In the UK, association membership training is perhaps the best option available at the present time.